High on the rocky crags and steep canyons of Wyoming, the bighorn sheep makes its living where few other large animals dare to go. Superbly adapted to vertical terrain, it navigates cliffs and ledges with a sure-footedness that seems to defy gravity.

The males, or rams, are famous for their massive curved horns, which can weigh as much as all the bones in their body combined. During the fall rut, rams face off in spectacular head-butting duels, charging one another and colliding with a crack that carries for great distances, a contest for dominance and the right to mate.

Bighorns once ranged widely across the West but suffered dramatic declines from hunting and, especially, diseases transmitted by domestic sheep, to which they have little resistance. Wyoming's herds have required careful management and restoration, and keeping wild and domestic sheep apart remains a central conservation challenge.

Today the bighorn is a prized sight for wildlife watchers and a symbol of the rugged high country. Herds can be found in the mountains and canyons across the state, and glimpsing a band of rams silhouetted on a ridgeline, or watching two crash together in the rut, ranks among the great wildlife experiences Wyoming has to offer.